1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a high power LED package. More particularly, the invention relates to an LED package frame and a high power LED package incorporating the same that have a lead inserted into a heat conductive member to achieve size-reduction while maintaining high heat conductivity and stability.
2. Description of the Related Art
A Light Emitting Diode (LED) is a semiconductor device that is activated in response to electric current to generate various colors of light. The color of light generated by the LED is mainly determined by chemical components of LED semiconductor. Such LEDs have several merits such as longer lifetime, lower driving voltage, better initial activation characteristics, higher vibration resistance and higher tolerance on repetitive power switching over conventional lighting devices using filaments, and thus demand for them is gradually on the rise.
However, an LED also does not convert current into light for 100%, but produces a considerable amount of heat from an LED chip. Unless heat is properly dissipated, internal components of the LED will suffer from stress owing to their different heat expansion coefficients. So, metal lead frames are provided in the LED to dissipate heat to the outside.
LEDs have been recently used in a backlight unit for a lighting equipment and a large-sized Liquid Crystal Display (LCD). These units require higher power, and thus a so-called high power LED requires a package structure having better heat-dissipation performance.
An example of such a high power LED package has been disclosed in US Patent Application Publication No. 2004/0075100, in the title of “Leadframe and Housing for Radiation-Emitting Component, Radiation-Emitting Component, and a Method for Producing the Component.”
As disclosed in this document, a conventional high power LED package is constructed by mounting an LED chip on a heat conductive part made of a metal lump, connecting the LED chip to lead portions, and then molding resin around the heat conductive part, the LED chip and the lead portions so as to form a package body. This construction can effectively dissipate heat from the LED chip to the outside via the heat conductive part while ensuring stability.
This arrangement, however, requires the package body to be resin-molded while the heat conductive part is kept separate from the lead portions, thereby causing disadvantageous size increase to the entire LED package.